The fashion industry is linked to almost a third of the world’s farmland, according to a new report that warns the environmental impact of clothing depends as much on how materials are produced as what they are made from.
Researchers at the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, working with DIRT Charity, estimate that fashion influences more than 30% of global farmland – around 1.45 billion hectares.
The figure includes land used to produce leather and wool as well as textile crops such as cotton, hemp and flax. Previous estimates have tended to focus only on textile crops, resulting in a much smaller assessment of fashion’s agricultural footprint.
The report argues that consumers cannot reliably judge a garment’s environmental impact from its fibre label alone as production methods and energy sources can produce dramatic differences within the same material.
Leather, for example, can have a very different environmental impact depending on how it is produced, with emissions ranging from 8.5 to 152kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per square metre.
The report found a similar difference in two materials made from mycelium, a type of fungus. Although both could be labelled as ‘mycelium’, one produced just 2.76kg of CO2e per square metre, while another, made using energy from coal, produced 57kg. That is significantly higher than the roughly 33kg produced by bovine leather.
Viscose showed a similar variation, with one analysis finding emissions ranging from 0.20 to 8.30 tonnes of CO2e per tonne.
Agricultural practices can also make a significant difference. The report highlights research linking organic and biodynamic farming with greater species richness than conventional agriculture. In Egypt, biodynamic insect control reduced pesticide use to less than 10% while cotton yields increased by almost 30%.
Report author and Director of the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Sam Fankauser said: ‘Once leather and wool are counted alongside textile crops, roughly a third of the world’s agricultural land is linked to what this industry buys. That is the scale of the opportunity, and our review suggests it is currently underestimated. A brand changing how it sources is changing how land is farmed.’
The findings come six days before new European Union rules on environmental claims take effect on 27th September. The rules will restrict generic environmental claims and require sustainability labels aimed at EU consumers to be backed by independently verified, certified schemes.
DIRT Charity founder and report co-author Arizona Muse said: ’Brands have spent a decade arguing about which natural fibre is more sustainable, many with little idea about how these fibres are farmed. DIRT Charity sees that fashion – as a sourcing power – has the opportunity to regenerate up to 30% of earth’s agricultural land through transitioning to regeneratively farmed biodynamic fibre. Healing the surface of the earth from toxic pollution while clothing humans.’
The Charity is urging fashion companies to set sourcing targets based on farming methods and independently verified outcomes rather than fibre type, while investing in regenerative agriculture and stronger certification throughout the textile supply chain.
Muse added: “Every brand has a contract coming up for renewal with a supplier. They have the opportunity to ask how the fibre was farmed, to demand – contractually – that the fibre be sourced from biodynamic or organic farms, and pay for the necessary transition.
Photo: Raden Prasetya